With the increased use of computers and web-based applications, increasing amounts of information are being made available to end users. As the costs of mass storage of data have decreased, and the speeds at which data can be obtained and transmitted have increased, the number of databases available to end users, and the size of those databases, have increased. Such databases are used to store a myriad of information. Typically, the stored information can be searched and retrieved by an end user via a user interface.
Specialized types of database are used to store information which has been subjected to some type of editorial review. For example, information related to legal proceedings is available through services known as Westlaw® and WestlawNext® provided by Thomson Reuters located in Eagan, Minn. In such services, judicial opinions (from various courts across the United States) are collected and published. The collected opinions are also summarized and classified based on the principles or points of law that they contain. For example, Thomson Reuters creates and classifies “headnotes” which are short summaries of points of law made in judicial opinions using a taxonomy. The taxonomy provided by Thomson Reuters is a hierarchical classification of over 20 million headnotes across more than 90,000 distinct legal topics. Each topic not only has a descriptive name, but also a unique number code known as its Key Number classification.
In addition to legal opinions, many other types of legal documents can be collected, stored, and subjected to editorial review (editorial review is also referred to herein as “editorializing” or “editing”). The process of collecting, storing and editorializing is an example of an editorial process. Exemplary legal documents include but are not limited to briefs filed in connection with a particular case, expert witness reports or testimony, depositions, filings related to particular motions and rulings on those motions, jury instructions, etc. In addition to information in document form, other types of data may be stored in connection with a judicial matter such as audio or videotapes of testimony or evidence, photographs, exhibits, written publications, computer recreations or exhibits, etc. As this raw information (referred to herein as “artifacts”) is entered into a particular database, the information is subjected to editorial review in which the information is associated with data which identifies the case or matter to which that information pertains. Other types of editing may occur as well including adding summaries to the information, classifying the information, cross referencing the information with other data, etc.
Typically, the data stored in such a database is arranged in a relational database. Each record in the database is associated with one or more court proceedings. The prior art utilizes an artifact related to a particular judicial proceeding (i.e. a docket or an opinion from the court) to act as a “hub”, or a primary key, for the relational database. In such an arrangement, a judicial proceeding is initially associated with a docket such that deposition information, motions, briefs, etc. are related to a specific docket. However, if at a subsequent time a preferred “hub” is developed such as a judicial case being decided, the stored artifacts must be re-indexed and transferred to a specifically published case such as a judicial opinion. Consequently, the present inventors have recognized a need for improvement of a system for managing electronically stored information.